Russia has launched a new series of ruthless terrorist attacks against civilians in Ukraine. On Oct. 6, the Russian military struck residential buildingsin Kharkiv, killing a 10-year-old boy and injuring at least 23 people. On Oct. 5, Moscow’s forces hit a cafe in the village of Hroza in Kharkiv Oblast with an Iskander missile, killing 52 people during a memorial dinner — the deadliest single attack in 2023.
NV recalls Russia’s largest and most brutal attacks on Ukrainian civilians in the 19 months of war since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
The worst attack remains the airstrike on the Mariupol Drama Theater, which killed hundreds of people (around 600, according to AP). Other strikes with the highest number of casualties include the attacks on the train station in Kramatorsk (59 dead), a residential highrise in Dnipro (46 dead), homes in Chasiv Yar (48 dead), as well as on the Mykolaiv and Kharkiv regional administrations (37 and 29 dead respectively) and civilian buildings in Luhansk Oblast at the beginning of the invasion (about 60 dead in a school in Bilohorivka and 56 dead in a nursing home in Kreminna).
In this article, the largest strikes are presented in reverse chronology.
2023
Hroza, Kharkiv Oblast, attack on a cafe and a grocery store: 52 dead
Date: Oct. 5, 2023
Target: cafe, store
Dead: 52 (including 1 child)
Wounded: 6
The Russians hit a cafe in the village of Hroza, Kharkiv Oblast, with an Iskander missile. At the time, a memorial dinner was being held there for a fallen soldier who was reburied in his hometown after being identified. According to police, the village was home to about 300 people, of whom more than 50 died. This is the deadliest Russian strike on a civilian target in 2023.
Chernihiv, attack on local theater and city center: 7 killed, over 200 wounded
Date: Aug. 19, 2023
Target: the historic center of the city, including the theater building
Dead: 7 (including a child)
Wounded: 214
On the morning of Saturday, Aug. 19, Russia fired an Iskander missile at the historic center of Chernihiv, including the Chernihiv Drama Theater, which was hosting a drone exhibition. However, the greatest damage was done to civilian objects in the city and its residents. A six-year-old child was among the seven people killed, and the strike damaged 66 residential buildings (about 400 apartments), 10 administrative buildings, and 67 vehicles.
Lviv, attack on a residential building: 10 dead
Date: July 6, 2023
Target: an apartment complex
Dead: 10
Wounded: 45 (including three children)
Overnight on July 6, Russia attacked Lviv and Lviv Oblast with Kalibr sea-launched cruise missiles. Although 7 out of 10 Kalibr missiles were shot down, in Lviv one of the missiles hit a residential building at 66 Stryiska Street. This was the most destructive strike on the city since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. 35 civilian buildings, 250 apartments, 10 dormitories, an orphanage, and two universities were damaged or destroyed.
Kramatorsk, attack on a pizzeria in the city center: 13 dead
Date: June 27, 2023
Target: A food establishment in the city center — a popular pizzeria
Dead: 13 (including three children)
Wounded: 61 (including an infant)
The Russians launched a missile attack on the center of Kramatorsk, hitting a packed pizza restaurant. The attack was carried out by two Iskander missiles. Three children were among the dead: a 17-year-old girl and two sisters aged 14. An 8-month-old baby was wounded. Ukrainian writer Viktoria Amelina died in hospital a few days later from severe injuries.
Kryvyi Rih, strike on a residential high-rise building: 12 dead
Date: June 13, 2023
Target: Residential high-rise building and other civilian objects
Dead: 12
Wounded: 38
Russia launched an attack with Kh-101 / Kh-555 cruise missiles on the city of Kryvyi Rih overnight, hitting several civilian objects, including a five-story residential building. The strike sparked a 700-square-meter fire that engulfed apartments on all floors, killing 11 people. The body of another victim was recovered from the rubble of a destroyed private enterprise. 68 buildings, including educational institutions, were damaged.
Uman, strike on a residential nine-story building: 23 dead
Date: April 28, 2023
Target: Residential high-rise building
Dead: 24 (including three children)
Wounded: 18
During a massive missile attack on Ukraine, one of the Russian missiles hit a nine-story building in the city of Uman in Cherkasy Oblast. The attack occurred around 4 a.m., when people were sleeping in their homes. The strike killed 23 people, and another woman died a few months later in hospital. An entire stairwell in the multi-story building was destroyed, and the rest of the building was engulfed in flames.
Zaporizhzhya, strike on a residential high-rise building: 13 dead
Date: March 2, 2023
Target: Residential high-rise building
Dead: 13 (including an infant)
Russian troops hit a five-story residential building in Zaporizhzhya with S-300 missiles. More than 10 apartments on the first four floors were destroyed.
Dnipro, attack on a residential high-rise: 46 dead
Date: Jan. 14, 2023
Target: Residential high-rise building
Dead: 46 (including five children)
Wounded: 80 (including 16 children)
In another massive attack on Ukrainian infrastructure in the winter of 2023, one of Russia’s Kh-22 missiles destroyed a nine-story residential building in Dnipro. Two stairwells were completely destroyed, more than 70 apartments were destroyed, and more than 230 more were damaged.
2022
Kherson, shelling of the city center: 10 dead
Date: Dec. 24, 2022
Target: city center
Dead: 10
Wounded: 68
Russian troops shelled the center of Kherson with Grad rockets, striking near the central market and a supermarket, which were usually crowded on weekends. The Kherson Oblast Clinical Hospital and a regional psychiatric facility were also damaged.
Zaporizhzhya, strike on residential buildings: 10 dead
Date: Oct. 9 and 10, 2022
Target: residential buildings
Dead: 14 (including a child)
Wounded: 94 (including 12 children)
Around 2 a.m. on Oct. 9, Russians fired missiles at the center of Zaporizhzhya, hitting residential buildings in the Dniprovskyi district. Overnight on Oct. 10, Russia repeated the attack, firing at least 10 rockets at the city center, damaging another residential high-rise.
Zaporizhzhya, attack on a civilian convoy: 31 dead
Date: Sept. 30, 2022
Target: checkpoint in front of the city, convoy of civilian vehicles
Dead: 31
Wounded: 88
On the morning of Sept. 30, Russia fired 16 S-300 missiles at Zaporizhzhya. Four of them hit targets near a car park and the checkpoint used by locals to evacuate from temporarily occupied territory. There was a convoy of civilian cars.
Kurylivka, Kharkiv Oblast, shelling of an evacuation convoy: 24 dead
Date: Sept. 25, 2022
Target: civilian convoy
Dead: 24 (including a pregnant woman and 13 children)
According to Ukraine’s SBU security service, a Russian sabotage and reconnaissance group fired at an evacuation convoy in no-man’s-land in Kharkiv Oblast between the villages of Kurylivka and Pishchane in Kupyansk district. 24 people were killed, who were evacuating in six cars and a truck at the time.
Chaplyne, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, strike on a railway station and homes, 25 dead
Date: Aug. 24, 2022
Target: railway station, residential building
Dead: 25 (including 2 children)
Wounded: 31
During the day, Russian troops launched five missile attacks on the village of Chaplyne, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, first on a residential building and then on a railway station. The village was fired upon with S-300, Iskander, and Smerch missiles. Three railroad workers were among the dead. Several passenger cars burned down.
Kharkiv, attack on dormitories, 25 dead
Date: Aug. 17-18, 2022
Target: dormitories and residences
Dead: 25 (including a child)
Wounded: 40
On the evening of Aug. 17, Russia launched a missile attack on the Saltivskyi district of Kharkiv, destroying a residential building (a former dormitory). 19 people were killed. The next day, Russia hit a dormitory in Kharkiv’s Slobidskyi district with a missile, killing six more people, including a child.
Vinnytsia, strike on the city center and a residential building: 27 dead
Date: July 14, 2022
Target: Victory Square
Dead: 27 (including 3 children)
Wounded: 202
A Russian missile strike destroyed a medical center with doctors and patients, damaged a Soviet-era concert hall, car park, and nearby residential buildings. The Russians fired several Kalibr cruise missiles at Vinnytsia from a submarine in the Black Sea, some of which were shot down by Ukrainian air defense forces. At the same time, a conference on bringing Russia to justice for its war crimes was taking place in The Hague.
Chasiv Yar, attack on residential buildings: 48 dead
Date: July 14, 2022
Target: residential buildings
Dead: 48 (including a child)
Wounded: 9
A Russian missile strike damaged two five-story residential buildings.
Serhiyivka, Odesa Oblast, strike on a holiday camp and a house: 22 dead
Date: July 1, 2022
Target: Holiday camp and residential building
Dead: 22 (including two children)
Wounded: 39
Three Kh-22 missiles hit a 9-storey residential building and holiday camps in the resort town of Serhiyivka, Odesa Oblast. The tragedy became the bloodiest for Odesa Oblast since the beginning of the war.
Kremenchuk, attack on a shopping center: 21 dead
Date: June 27, 2022
Target: Amstor mall
Dead: 21
Wounded: 59
The fifth missile attack on Kremenchuk during the war. This time, the Russians hit a crowded civilian facility — Amstor mall. At the time of the attack, there were about 1,000 people there. The nearby Kremin-Arena stadium was also hit. The strike was carried out with Kh-22 missiles that were fired from aircraft over Russia’s Kursk Oblast.
Kramatorsk, attack on the train station: 59 dead
Date: April 8, 2022
Target: railway station
Dead: 59 (including 7 children)
Wounded: 109
Russian forces attacked a railway station with two guided ballistic missiles. A few days before, the Russians had attacked the railroad infrastructure, blocking several evacuation trains, so at the time, several thousand people were waiting at the train station to proceed with the evacuation.
Bilohorivka, school: 60 dead
Date: May 7, 2022
Target: school
Dead: ~60 (estimate)
As a result of a Russian air strike on a Ukrainian school that served as a shelter for civilians, dozens of people were injured and killed. The head of the Luhansk Oblast State administration, Serhiy Hayday, said that about 90 people were in the basement, and only 30 were rescued from the rubble. According to the governor, constant shelling made it impossible to safely clear the rubble and search for survivors.
Mykolaiv, attack on the regional administration building: 37 dead
Date: March 29, 2022
Target: Mykolaiv Oblast State Administration
Dead: 37
Wounded: ~34.
Russia attacked the Mykolaiv Oblast State Administration building at around 9 a.m. The strike destroyed the central part of the building, killing Ukrainian civil servants. The regional governor, Vitaliy Kim, was late for work that day and was unharmed.
Mariupol, attack on theater, over 600 dead
Date: March 16, 2022
Target: the drama theater
Dead: ~600
During the siege of the city, the building of the Donetsk Oblast Drama Theater in Mariupol was used as a bomb shelter by, according to various estimates, 500 to 1,200 civilians. According to the AP, the bombs dropped by the Russians on the theater killed about 600 people. The exact number of fatalities is unknown.
Kreminna, attack on a nursing home: 56 dead
Date: March 11, 2022
Target: a nursing home
Dead: 56
Russian troops fired at a retirement home from a tank; 56 people died, about 15 survived. The latter were abducted by the Russians and taken to occupied Svatove.
Chernihiv, attack on a bread line: 14 dead
Date: March 3, 2022
Target: residential areas
Dead: 14
Wounded: ~40
On March 16, Russian forces lobbed an artillery shell into a line for bread on Dotsenko Street, where about a hundred people were queueing. In total, more than 50 people were killed by shelling in the city that day.
Kharkiv, attack on the regional state administration building: 29 dead
Date: March 1, 2022
Target: Kharkiv Oblast State Administration
Dead: 29
Wounded: ~35
A Russian cruise missile strike on the Kharkiv Oblast State Administration building and the city’s central square also damaged the opera house, city philharmonic, and residential buildings.
We’re bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!
Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine